I’m with you: TERRIBLE decision.

Drop the presumption that all conservatives follow Bush in lockstep and get back to us will you?

-Just as is giving private banks like Fannie Mae and other speculative based fuck-ups a taxpayer funded bailout. Its the S&L crisis part two – Electric Bugaloo.

Drop the wingnut ability to not have a gag reflex and get back to us will you?

Not so. Depends on where you are in the life span of your mortgage. If you’re past the midpoint, the amount of deductible interest you’re paying may decline below the threshold for itemizing.

Decrease tax RATES, my friend. As learned from the educational film “Ferris Beuller’s Day Off”, the Laffer Curve states that (up until a point), tax revenues actually increase as rates decrease. Calling for a decrease in tax RATES means Republicans don’t think we’ve hit the tipping point on the curve yet.

Republicans still have no excuse for their spending binge. But Obama’s answer of EVEN MORE spending along with an increase in RATES is the wrong answer.

So what? I’m all for making the process easier. Why aren’t you? Why prefer the Rube Goldberg approach to filing taxes?

Obama wants it to go to 39%, McCain wants it to go to 28%.

Given the economy and budget deficit under the Clinton years, it seems like going back to around 39% is reasonable UNTIL THE BUDGET IS BALANCED. We do need to pay for our government spending. People making below $120,000 a year would have lower taxes under Obama’s plan. People above $250,000 a year would have lower taxes under McCain’s plan. Both plans will have budget deficits, but McCain’s is MUCH higher than Obama’s.

Also McCain’s health plan costs $1.3 Trillion over 10 years and is projected to insure 2 million new people leaving 62 million UNINSURED. Obama’s plan costs $1.6 Trillion over the same time and would insure 34 million new people leaving about 30 million Americans unable to afford health insurance.

I choose Obama.

I know as soon as I hit SUBMIT, semantics would pop up.

Obama may think he has a winner in the “We’ll do all the tax prep for you!” until you realize the IRS isn’t the most popular organization in the world and most taxpayers wouldn’t trust them if they said the sky is blue.

Also, who’s going to calculate all these returns? A whole bevy of new federal workers!! Say hello to a more bloated bureacracy!

Rich is a nebulous word, devoid of specific meaning. Let’s use numbers. Am I correct in thinking that under an Obama administration taxes will fall for anyone earning under 75,000, and rise for those who earn more than 250,000? Isn’t that the plan?

Such things almost act as an incentive against attempting to earn more income.

Depends on how steep the taxation is, I’d assume. If I’m earning five dollars and the government takes one, and I have a chance to earn ten and the government will take three, I’d still rather have the seven instead of the four. I’ve heard the incentive argument before, and it makes some sense, but I’m hesitant to give it much credence without more concrete evidence.

Lets go point by point.

Point 1 is not a tax cut. It’s a tax credit. It’s a tax credit that comes with conditions. One of those conditions is that you don’t itemize deductions. That leaves just about anybody who owns a home out of the picture. Such things almost act as an incentive against attempting to earn more income.

Point 2 reduces taxes for 2.5% of the population. That’s not the “middle class” and it’s nothing more than crass political pandering designed to get votes.

Point 3 – So what?

And all of this comes on the heels of raising taxes all over the place and not just for “the rich.”

Provide Middle Class Americans Tax Relief

Obama will cut income taxes by $1,000 for working families to offset the payroll tax they pay.

* Provide a Tax Cut for Working Families: Obama will restore fairness to the tax code and provide 150 million workers the tax relief they need. Obama will create a new “Making Work Pay” tax credit of up to $500 per person, or $1,000 per working family. The “Making Work Pay” tax credit will completely eliminate income taxes for 10 million Americans.
* Eliminate Income Taxes for Seniors Making Less than $50,000: Barack Obama will eliminate all income taxation of seniors making less than $50,000 per year. This proposal will eliminate income taxes for 7 million seniors and provide these seniors with an average savings of $1,400 each year. Under the Obama plan, 27 million American seniors will also not need to file an income tax return.
* Simplify Tax Filings for Middle Class Americans: Obama will dramatically simplify tax filings so that millions of Americans will be able to do their taxes in less than five minutes. Obama will ensure that the IRS uses the information it already gets from banks and employers to give taxpayers the option of pre-filled tax forms to verify, sign and return. Experts estimate that the Obama proposal will save Americans up to 200 million total hours of work and aggravation and up to $2 billion in tax preparer fees.

Nice try, though.

Isn’t 3 times 0 still zero?

Yes We Can.

Obama ’08